GP of Mexico: Who impressed in MXGP?

Mexico hosted the fourth round of the MXGP World Championship as the riders faced a hard-pack track. There were some impressive rides in the MXGP class, we take a look at who impressed during the course of the weekend.

What a weekend it was for Tim Gajser, the HRC Honda rider was on fire around the Mexican circuit that clearly suited his style. The Slovenian comes into the season as reigning champion which means he is under a lot of pressure to perform but with the way he is riding you really wouldn’t think it.

Mexico could genuinely be the best GP of his career to date. He won both of the moto’s by fourteen and fifteen seconds respectively. We saw him win plenty of MXGP races last year as he went on to win the title during his rookie year, but it was rare for him to win by that sort of distance. He looked unbeatable in Mexico, he keeps getting better and better.

With Arco next on the calendar, can anyone stop him? He excels in hard pack and in this form it won’t be easy. He now has a twenty points lead in the championship chase. Gajser seems to think the secret of his success is having fun, “I haven’t changed anything that I do, I am just having fun on the bike and I think that is key.”

Mexico isn’t the best track on the calendar for Antonio Cairoli and his KTM didn’t seem to have as much power as the Honda as it struggled with the altitude. Cairoli always seems to struggle with his asthma in Mexico too so to end up second overall behind an unbeatable Gajser is a very good result. In the first moto, TC spent the entire moto stuck behind Paulin, he was visibly quicker but just couldn’t make the pass so it meant he came home in fourth.

However, in the second moto the Italian got a better start and was able to keep Gajser within touching distance until the half way mark. Antonio’s home GP is next and he will be eager to put on a show in front of his home crowd. He will want to stop Gajser’s momentum in the championship race as soon as possible. Expect Cairoli to be putting plenty of time in on hard pack as he acknowledges he needs to improve to beat Gajser, “We still have to improve something to be closer to Tim”.

French rider, Gautier Paulin is really starting to gel with his ICE ONE Husqvarna. He got two very good starts and one thing about Paulin is that he doesn’t make it easy for the riders behind him! In the first moto he was under intense pressure from Cairoli but he didn’t give in and didn’t make any mistakes.

He brought it home for another third in race two which is another great result. His confidence will be on a high after securing his first GP podium of the year, he will be looking plenty more, that’s for sure! After a few tough years on the Honda, it’s nice to see Paulin looking good again “I’m having fun on my bike at the moment and our goal now is to consistently battle for the podium at each GP”.

Better starts, that’s what Arnaud Tonus will be wanting from now on. Mexico was definitely his best MXGP race of the year so far since returning from America. It looks like he is starting to really get to grips with his Wilvo Yamaha machinery. There is no doubt about it, Tonus had the speed to podium this weekend.

Many riders seemed to struggle passing on the track that was pretty one-lined. But it didn’t stop Tonus as he was able to catch riders in front of him and edge his way past. He managed to sneak his way past Van Horebeek on the last lap of the second moto to secure fourth overall. That will do his confidence the world of good so don’t be surprised to see him bag himself a podium in the near future. Tonus and the 450 looks like a match made in heaven.